President Hu Jintao praised Dr. Sun Yat-sen, forerunner
of China's democratic revolution, as an outstanding patriot and
national hero at a grand gathering to commemorate the 140th
anniversary of Sun's birth in Beijing on Sunday.
Hu said in a speech delivered at the gathering that Dr. Sun's
pioneering spirit in seeking truth, patriotism, devotion to the
public and broad vision are valuable legacies for the Chinese
people.
"In our great cause of rejuvenating the Chinese nation, these
legacies remain enlightening and instructive, and we should always
learn from them and carry them forward," Hu said.
Hu called on people of all ethnic groups, compatriots on both
sides of the Taiwan Strait, and all Chinese worldwide who respect
Dr. Sun Yat-sen to unite and strive harder for China's full
reunification, to contribute to the great rejuvenation of the
Chinese nation, and the building of a harmonious world featuring
lasting peace and common prosperity.
Top CPC and state officials Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan also attended the gathering in the
Great Hall of the People, together with about 3,000 people
including CPC, government and military officials, non-Communist
luminaries, Dr. Sun's relatives and delegates from all walks of
life.
Dr. Sun is known across the country as a "great revolutionist
and statesman" who fought against feudalism and imperialist
aggression and strived for the independence and freedom of the
Chinese people.
He was born in 1866 in Xiangshan County (now Zhongshan City) in
south China's Guangdong Province and died of illness in
Beijing (then called Beiping) on March 12, 1925.
At the commemoration meeting, Hu recalled Dr. Sun's life. Dr.
Sun Yat-sen lived through the second half of the 19th century to
the early 20th century, a period when China, invaded by imperialist
powers and ruled by feudal forces, was reduced to a semi-colonial
and semi-feudal society, Hu said.
Dr. Sun led the people in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty during
the 1911 Revolution, thus ending the feudal autocratic monarchy
that had lasted for more than 2,000 years in China.
He dedicated his life to the nation's independence and
prosperity, and also to the people's rights, freedom, democracy and
livelihood, Hu noted.
Dr. Sun Yat-sen regarded Chinese Communists as his good friends,
and Chinese communists have always been staunch supporters,
cooperators and successors of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary cause, Hu
said.
Since his death, Chinese Communists have continued his cause.
They have rallied and led the Chinese people and all patriotic
forces in claiming victory in the new democratic revolution,
establishing a socialist state, and implementing socialist
construction.
Since the reform and opening-up in the 1970s, the Chinese
Communist Party has led the Chinese people in building socialism
with Chinese characteristics and scored great achievements
recognized by the whole world, bringing about fundamental changes
in China.
We have put an end to the worries of Dr. Sun Yat-sen by
transforming forever the old China that was poor and weak, the
livelihood of the Chinese people that Dr. Sun cared about so much
has improved tremendously, China's modernization, which was always
on his mind, is gradually becoming a reality, and the prospect of a
great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unfolding before us, Hu
said.
Dr. Sun said that "the unity of the nation is the wish of all
the Chinese nationals. Once the reunification is achieved, the
people of China will enjoy happiness; if the reunification cannot
be accomplished, they will suffer."
Hu quoted these remarks of Dr. Sun's and said that to realize
full reunification is in the fundamental interests of the Chinese
nation and stands as the sacred responsibility of the sons and
daughters of the Chinese nation, Hu said.
He called on people across the Taiwan Strait to work hand in
hand to contribute to the development of cross-Strait relations and
the full reunification of the country.
In the evening, the National Committee of the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference held a reception for relatives of
Dr. Sun, noted personages from Taiwan, delegates of overseas
Chinese and foreign guests, who came to attend the
commemoration.
(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2006)